My laughter was dry and cynical as it rasped from me. “My father tried to kill the previous alpha. From that day forward, my family was shit in this pack. Torin wanted to kill me the day I first turned, and the only reason he didn’t was because of—”

The pain hit me harder than ever, my brain sliced into pieces as figurative knives attacked with vengeance. Screams shattered the car and it took me a minute to understand they were mine. Sam, who had not been expecting that at all, careened all over the road as she shouted, “What is it? What’s wrong? Did you see a spider?”

She started screaming too, and if I hadn’t been about to die from the pain, I would have laughed at her apparent fear of spiders. She was a damn wolf shifter; spiders were not a threat to us at all. Alas, logic had nothing to do with true fear.

When Sam finally wrested back control of her car, bringing it to a halt on the side of the road, I managed to stop screaming. “I’m sorry.” I got out, my throat aching before it healed. “It was my memory loss… Every time I try to trigger a memory, the pain is so damn bad, I near pass out.”

Sam pressed a hand to her heaving chest, the long, shiny strands of her hair completely tangled around her face. “That’s truly terrible. I hope it wasn’t anything I said.”

Straightening, I wiped at the drool on my face, sending up a prayer of thanks that I hadn’t pissed myself as well. “It was nothing you said. It’s just the mess that’s my brain, and whoever fucked with me better hope I never regain my memories. Because I’ll be coming for them.”

My voice lowered into a growl, and Sam cleared her throat. “You’re kind of scary. Glad to see your inner wolf wasn’t brutally torn to pieces by your father’s betrayal and the lackluster true mate you got. Wish I could say the same.”

Being called “scary” was a compliment to me, and I took it as such. In truth, my pack’s oppression and bullying ways had forced me to evolve into a shifter who gave zero fucks. The same treatment of Sam had had the opposite effect. I mean, I’d only known her all of half an hour, but already I was painting a picture. From the cautious nature and gentle soul to the sedate button-down shirt and black slacks. Whatever wildness had existed in her soul had been burned away, leaving behind a shifter who took no risks.

Was coming to me with this information the first true step outside of her norm in a long time? If it panned out, I would owe her everything. No matter what happened, one day I would help her reach her full potential.